Alpacas were introduced to New Zealand in 1987 and today there are around 12,000 of them living in NZ – seven of which live at The Summit Lodge in Gladstone. The seven we have are all boys and each has quite a distinctive personality!

Romeo is the eldest and is so named for a good reason – he has gorgeous brown eyes fringed with long, dark eyelashes. He is the look-out for the herd. Petrelli is the self-appointed leader who has very clear rules – and woe-betide any alpaca who breaks these rules! Alfie is the one who normally gets himself into trouble. He is now nearly two but still acts as the ‘baby’ and is quite a character – usually quite undaunted after being reprimanded by Petrelli. Falcor looks like his namesake from Never-ending Story – white and fluffy, big dark eyes and a gentle personality.

Beamer reminds us of Donkey from Shrek – you can almost expect Eddie Murphy’s voice to come out of him! He has the same physic and he has a range of very interesting facial and vocal expressions! Cookie came to us with 2 years-worth of fleece and looked enormous but he shrunk considerably once shorn! He loves having his neck scratched. Last but not least, there is De Pasco – he might be relatively small but he can be quite feisty and gets quite upset if any other alpaca tries to push-in on his feed bucket!

All our guests at the Summit Lodge have the opportunity to meet and feed the boys – and the boys really enjoy making new friends. They run to the gate when they see people coming and get quite excited. And it isn’t everyday people get the opportunity to meet a Southern American Camelid with personality-plus!

As well as alpaca feeding, guests at The Summit Lodge get to experience five-star luxury accommodation and a gourmet breakfast to set them up for the day. Home toasted muesli, fresh baked bread, muffins warm from the oven, jam made from local fruit - and for those who need coffee there is an Italien coffee machine and locally roasted coffee beans!

Book now - a perfect break in the country and at the heart of the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail.